Who??

EMAIL ->> joshuasantospirito (at) gmail (dot) com
INSTAGRAM ->> @Jshsantospirito
FACE BOOK ->> Josh Santospirito is an “artist”
TWITTER ->>   @JshSantospirito

Joshua Santospirito is a graphic novelist, an artist, a musician and a writer who lives in Hobart, Tasmania. He enjoys sitting on his couch and avoiding making art, music or writing.

Josh grew up in suburban Melbourne, has also lived in Sydney and Alice Springs. His music, writing and art is often concerned with place and identity and other interesting things like that. In 2013 he started San Kessto Publications together with Nadine Kessler. In the years 2014-2016 he was the creator and co-Directeur of Her Majesty’s Favourite Really Great Graphical Festival; an annual comics and illustrator’s festival in Hobart, Tasmania. Josh has run the Small Press Zine Fair in Hobart since 2014. Along with artist Matt Warren he curates Sound Klub: a series of underground experimental music performance nights based in Hobart. He has worked in mental health as a nurse for over fourteen years in Central Australian Aboriginal communities and in Hobart.

Comics
Josh’s comics and art have been published in magazines such as The Monthly, Meanjin and Island. His popular and critically acclaimed first graphic novel, The Long Weekend in Alice Springs was published in 2013 and it was awarded the Chief Minister’s Northern Territory Read Non Fiction Book Award, the ComicOz Award and was shortlisted for the Ledger Awards. The Long Weekend enjoyed a major review in The Australian and continues to sell well today. It is currently in its fourth printing. In 2015 Swallows Part One was published, a graphic novel investigating his family history since migrating to Australia from Italy. Swallows was also shortlisted for a Ledger Award and was reviewed on Radio National. Swallows Part Two is slated for publication in late 2019.

Music and Sound Art
Santospirito has performed strange and beautiful music since 2005 under the name Drive West Today. He played at various Australian festivals, including MOFOs, Wide Open Space, and played concerts all over Australia and Europe.

Media, reviews and interesting links

2018 – The Monthly Magazine – article about Uti Kulintjaku project – by Kim Mahood
2018 – Sydney Review of Books – by Barry Hill
2018 – Text Journal article – by Ronnie Scott and Elizabeth MacFarlane

2017 –

2016 – Radio National Art and Books review of Swallows.
2016 – Article in Il Globo
2016 – Alice Springs News MONA FOMA performance review
2016 – Real Time Arts MONA FOMA performance review

2015 – SBS Radio interview about Swallows with Magica Fosati
2015 – Carlton Football Club Website article about Swallows

2014 The Space Between Us, by Kieran Finnane
2014 Sawtooth Review article on Sleuth: The Delegation
2014 The fertile space between us, by Kieran Finnane – Nov 2014
2014 Beautiful review of Fluid Prejudice in the Lifted Brow by Leonie Brialey
2014 NT Read Non-Fiction Book Award, May 2014
2014 Kieran Finnane writes on What I’m Reading for the Meanjin blog
2014 ComicOz Award for Best Australian Original Comic Book for 2013
2014 David Nixon’s post on ABC Open

2013 Jonathon Shaw’s review
2013 Charlie Ward’s blog review – “The Long Weekend”
2013 Australian Newspaper Review Magazine major review of “The Long Weekend”
2013 Readings Bookstore – review of “The Long Weekend”
2013 ComicOz review of “The Long Weekend”
2013 Review from the Alice Springs News of “The Long Weekend”
2013 Alice Online article about “The Long Weekend”
2013 Podcast from the Comic Spot – interview with Josh Santospirito

2012 Framed Magazine interview about “The Long Weekend”

Please only read below … if you’re really really interested … it gets even more like a “list” from this point in.
Curriculum Vitae

Exhibitions

2016, July-Oct – Swallows, Immigration Museum Victoria
2016, April – Sleuth: The Pulse, at Visual Bulk, Hobart.
2015, December – Swallows, Tasmanian Writer Centre
2015, October – Swallows, Museo Italiano, Carlton, (Victoria)
2015, April – Sleuth: the Delegation, Tuggarenong Arts Centre (ACT)
2014, August – The Long Weekend in Alice Springs. Santospirito and San Roque present the original art from the graphic novel, Top Gallery (Hobart)
2014, April – Sleuth: the Delegation, Sawtooth ARI, (Launceston)
2013, May – The Long Weekend in Alice Springs. Santospirito and San Roque present the original art of Josh’s at Watch This Space (Alice Springs, NT).
2012, November – Sleuth: The Origin – Inflight Art Gallery (Hobart, Tas). Comprising numerous series of comics intersecting across the walls of the Paddy Lyn memorial space detailing an animistic reinvigoration of the Australian landscape.

Select Group Exhibitions
2018, “New Horizons. An Exhibition of Italian Australian Artists” Co.As.It, Carlton, Victoria
2017, Strange Careers, Watch This Space, Alice Springs
2012, April Its my party and I’ll die how I want to, social engagement artwork with Sara Wright, Nadine Kessler, Dr Bruce Wilson at MoMa.
2010, December – Dog, with Dan Murphy and Craig San Roque at Araluen Arts Centre, Alice Springs as part of Watching this place organised by Watch This Space Artist Run Initiative.
2008, December – Respond with Nadine Kessler as part of the Container Project, Taste Festival Tasmania, organised by 6a and Inflight ARI.

Awards / Grants / Major Reviews
2013 – Assistance to Individuals Grant ($2000) from Arts Tasmania
2013 – Major review in The Australian Newspaper Review Magazine
2014 – ComicOz Award for Best Australian Original Comic Book for 2013 – for The Long Weekend in Alice Springs
2014 – NT Read Non Fiction Book Award  ($2000) –  for The Long Weekend in Alice Springs
2015 – Crowbar grant ($2000) from Arts Tas for “Swallows”
2015 – Accepted to attend the Comic Art Workshop on Maria Island
2016 – Swallows shortlisted for Ledger Awards
2016 – Swallows reviewed on Radio National Arts and Books show
2017 – $11’000 assistance to individuals grant from Arts Tas for 2018

Festivals – Writing, sound-art, music and visual art
2009-10, 2013 – Wide Open Space
2010, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2016 – MONA FOMA
2012 – Forest Festival
2013, 2015 – Tasmanian Writers and Readers Festival
2013, 2017 – Dark MOFO
2014, 2015, 2016 – Directeur of Her Majesty’s Favourite Really Great Graphical Festival
2014 – Wordstorm, NT Writers Festival, Darwin
2015 – Digital Writers Festival
2015 – Melbourne Writers Festival
2015 – Eye of the Storm, NT Writers festival, Alice Springs
2017 – Something Somewhere Film Festival, Alice Springs
2017 – Comic Con-Versation, Sydney
2017 – Ubud Writers and Readers Festival, Bali
2017 – Yogyakarta Biennale

Selected Publication History
* The Long Weekend in Alice Springs (Sankessto Publications, 2013)
* Fluid Prejudice – contributor, (Glass Flag Press, 2014)
* Oi Oi Oi #1 (ComicOz, 2014)
* Island Magazine #137 2014
* Meanjin September 2014
* Swallows Part One – a graphic novella (San Kessto Publications 2015)
* Yankunytjatjara Wangka Project – 20 childrens readers produced by the Mimili School in conjunction with UniSA and Mimili Maku Arts Centre.
Academic Journals
* International Journal of Comic Art 17:1 (Spring 2015)
* Analysis and Activism, Social and political contribution of Jungian psychology, Routledge 2016
* The Monthly, December 2018 issue – reproduction of Uti Kulintjaku poster illustration.

Music
Albums released under the project name of Drive West Today.

• 2003 – the child & the tractor
• 2004 – The balloon
• 2005 – feather
• 2006 – Is this a desert? (reviewed in Cyclic Defrost Magazine)
• 2011 – A shitload less understanding than what is required
• 2012 – Acousmatic Ecology part 1 – a query
• 2012 – pardon? Acousmatic Ecology part 2

A non-exhaustive list of other fellow artists that I reckon are worth their spit
Sarah Firth, Chris Downes, Tom OHern, Pat Grant, Bernard Caleo, Mandy Ord, Rachel Tribout, Sam Wallman, Trent Jansen, Matt Warren, Nadine Kessler, Tom O’Hern, Elliat Rich, Beth Sometimes, Jennifer Mills, Tricky Walsh, Alex Kershaw, Leonie Brialey.